From: Guide to Taos - 1953 Torreones Still Stand Mute Watchtowers of a Century By Joe Fulton

A sentinel high above Taos Valley on the divisadero releases a puff of smoke. In El Prado, Talpa, Ranchos and Taos the smoke is seen rising into the sky above Canon. Immediately word is passed from house to house and from form to form: "The Comanches are coming!" The people in the valley spring to life. Children are called in from play. Cattle, goats and sheep are brought in to the corrals or tethered in the willows out of sight. And then a trek begins to the torreon, or fortified tower. These round, thick-walled, two-storied adobe block houses begin to fill with women and children. The men bring muskets and a supply of powder, stationing themselves near the four small apertures on the second floor. The women below begin to heat lard; if the Indians should stick their heads in the windows on the ground floor the women will let them have it in the face. The siege is begun.

Over a Century Old
This procedure was followed between 1750 and 1850. The early settlers had no other way to protect themselves from marauding Kiowas and Comanches from Oklahoma, and Apaches from Colorado, looking for grain and meat. Today, the remaining torreones are used for less exciting purposes. ' Antonio Vigil, Talpa, is using the well-preserved torreon on his property as a storeroom.

Ralph Cardenas, whose grandmother, Rafaelita Valdez, owns the bell-shaped torreon in El Prado, says that his chickens are now using it as their residence. Pascual Martinez reports that there was a fine torreon on his birthplace in Ranchos de Taos which is now the property of Mrs. Carmelita Valerio.

Another imposing Torreon was situated in Los Cordovas. A postcard picture of it made in 1911 shows a two-story tower. The Torreon has since been torn down. No two-story torreones remain in the valley today. The Talpa and El Prado specimens, although but one story, are in a fair state of preservation. Vigas, covered with latias of split cedar, support the adobe roofs. The walls are plastered inside with tierra bayita. It is to be hoped that these fine specimens of an earlier day can be preserved to remind coming generations of the struggles of their forefathers. Surprisingly, very few references to torreones can be found in old and new books on the Southwest. A small village in Torrance County of 550 persons is named Torreon. Near this village are the ruins of an ancient pueblo. There is also a city in the state of Chihuahua in Old Mexico named Torreon,

There are several interesting torreones about 5 miles from Gallina which have been the subject of articles in the National Geographic and Saturday Evening Post magazines. Gallina is in Rio Arriba County beyond Abiqui, and near Coyote and the Jicarilla Apache reservation.

From: Guide to Taos - 1953